On the hydroelastic modelling of damaged ships

Recent high profile ship collision and grounding events show that such incidents occur with a higher frequency than they should; hence the survivability of ships subject to damage needs to be better understood. The long-term aim of this project is to develop a numerical, hydroelastic model that can predict the survivability of a damaged ship. This paper presents the results of the initial development of a two-dimensional hydroelastic model to numerically model the influence of abnormal loading due to floodwater ingress on the motions and global loads of a ship in regular waves using a quasi-static approach. Predictions are validated using experimental data. Results presented show promising agreement between experimental measurements and numerical predictions. The ability to carry out a systematic study of the influence of damage location, severity and ship speed on the effect of damage on a vessel is demonstrated. Future work will investigate the inclusion of both transient flooding and three-dimensional effects.